Aquitard: a saturated geological unit that is less permeable than an aquifer, and incapable of transmitting useful quantities of water. Aquitards often form a confining layer over an artesian aquifer.

Artesian aquifer:an aquifer that has enough natural pressure to allow water in a bore to rise to the ground surface.

Assets:see water-dependent assets.

Bioregion (as defined in the bioregional assessment (BA) methodology): the land area that constitutes a geographic location within which is collected and analysed data and information relating to potential impacts of coal seam gas or coal mining developments on receptors identified for key water‑dependent assets.

Bioregional assessments: A bioregional assessment is a scientific analysis of the ecology, hydrology, geology and hydrogeology of a bioregion, with explicit assessment of the potential direct, indirect and cumulative impacts of CSG and coal mining development on water resources. The central purpose of BAs is to analyse the impacts and risks associated with changes to water-dependent assets that arise in response to current and future pathways of CSG and coal mining development.

Receptors: discrete, identifiable attributes or entities associated with water-dependent assets that are materially impacted by change in water quality or quantity arising from CSG or coal mining development. Receptors are the primary mechanism for reporting on the direct, indirect and cumulative impacts in a BA.

Recharge: see groundwater recharge.

Response variables: variables that relate parameters, state variables and/or fluxes in groundwater and surface water models with impacts on receptors. Response variables also link receptors with subsequent advice on monitoring programs.

Water-dependent asset: an entity contained within a bioregion where the characteristics can be ascribed a defined value and which can be clearly linked, either directly or indirectly, to a dependency on groundwater or surface water quantity or quality.